80% of survey respondents [administered by MIT/Sloan and Cap Gemini] believe that their companies need to go through a significant digital transformation. However, 63% of those respondents also believe that their current pace is too slow.

Sound familiar? Is your company moving too slowly? Are you moving at all?

I heard these stats while attending the recent Digital Leaders Summit in San Francisco. Aimed at those responsible for guiding their enterprises into the new digital future, the summit highlighted trends, best practices and case studies from a number of media and other companies including leaders from The New York Times, The Economist, Turner Broadcasting, Jump Associates, Coca-Cola, The LA Times, Politico, and others.

This week, my boss, Cisco Chairman and CEO John Chambers, is being recognized at the U.S. STEM Solutions Summit as one of the 100 CEO Leaders in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math).

This is a great recognition for Cisco’s efforts in developing talent for the technology field. On the other hand, the list of Fortune 100 CEO’s is disappointing because of what’s missing – women. Only 18 of the 100 leaders listed are women.

In the United States and around the world, there are far more technology-oriented jobs than candidates to fill them. According to the National Math + Science Initiative (NMSI), jobs in U.S are projected to grow 45 percent between 2008 -2018 in computer systems design and related services, a math intensive field.

Further, a new study from the Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program says 20 percent of all jobs in the United States require a “high level of knowledge” in at least one STEM field. Half of these jobs don’t even require bachelor’s degree, yet they pay $53,000 on average—10 percent higher than jobs with similar educational requirements.

Clearly, the computer technology represents a good career choice with strong possibilities for employment and professional growth. Yet it appears that this message isn’t reaching a broader audience of women.

Smarter and more connected communities – that’s not just a pretty vision, far off into the future. They are being built now, often on the basis of a renewed and intelligent city infrastructure. These communities have numerous advantages over other cities. Some of the most successful ones are approaching their development in ways that change how they deliver services to residents, how those residents work, how traffic flows are managed, how public transportation operates, and how real estate resources are best utilized.

We want those attending Meeting of the Minds 2012 in San Francisco in October as well as those watching via webcast, to build a world where everything is connected, intelligent, and green: from office buildings and appliances to hospitals and schools. Citizens will play a central role in that new world, working together with business and government and achieving unprecedented levels of collaboration, productivity, and economic growth. And it can all happen without compromising the integrity of our natural systems or our fragile environmental quality. Read More »

Until now, it’s been assumed that enterprise IT leaders probably view the current BYOD (“Bring Your Own Device”) movement with about the same enthusiasm as a farmer awaiting the next locust invasion.

A recent survey from the Cisco Internet Business Solutions Group (IBSG), however, indicates that BYOD may no longer be a “four-letter word” in enterprise IT departments. In fact, the study of 600 U.S. enterprise IT leaders—all from companies of 1,000 or more employees—shows that, if anything, BYOD now has a predominantly positive reputation in U.S. enterprise IT circles. Read More »

Cisco’s placement was evaluated on both completeness of vision and the ability to execute in the “Magic Quadrant for WAN Optimization Controllers (WOC)” authored by Severine Real, Andy Rolfe, and Joe Skorupa and published in December, 2010.

2010 Gartner MQ for WOC

In addition to our position in the 2010 Gartner MQ Report, Cisco introduced WAAS 4.3 software in December 2010, which provides a rich and comprehensive portfolio of innovations such as virtual WAAS (vWAAS), WAAS central management for the WAAS Express, and improved optimizations for Cloud (SaaS) applications like Microsoft Office 365. These most recent innovations and significant customer wins in the recent quarters showcase Cisco WAAS market leadership.Read More »

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